Where are they now? Catching up with 2005 State 'B' Champs

How well do you think you know the Rocket team that won the state championship 15 years ago? Take the following short trivia test to find out!

1. Which player has summited Mt. Whitney, which is the highest mountain in the Lower 48?

2. Of the 20 people pictured above, how many sets lived in the same household during the 2004-2005 basketball season?

3. What is the number of people from the picture who still live within 50 miles of New Rockford?

4. Which player enjoys working with wood and has built a patio table and some furniture for his children?

5. “I’ve never had a cavity” and “I have seen my favorite band O.A.R. [short for Of A Revolution] 15 times!” are humorous and rather incredible facts about themselves that what two people in the picture supplied?

6. Which player lives in the same city as the HGTV popular couple Erin and Ben Napier, stars of the TV series Home Town?

7. How many children has the “team” (coaches, players, and bookkeeper/statisticians) produced altogether?

8. Match Evan, Tyler, Michael, Casey, and Matt to the following precise descriptions that classmate Andy Anderson provides: A) “Consistent, knew his role, and stepped up big-time after Alex Belquist graduated in 2004” B) “An artist; so creative and confident” C) “A gifted scorer; his length and basketball intelligence made him unstoppable” D) “A combination of power and grace; he may have been the fastest player on the team” and E) “Smooth in everything he did; a great shooter.”

If you don’t know all of the answers to the questions, read the brief updates of everyone listed below. You might find some clues along the way!

Coaches

Craig Demester was at the helm during the string of three consecutive trips to the state “B.” Craig earned his Elementary Education degree from Valley City State University and has been teaching “little ones” for 25 years. His first year as an instructor was in Evanstan, Wyo., followed by three years in Sheyenne, and the rest here at NR-S. He and his wife Lori are the parents of Katie, Ahna, Kennedy and Jax. Craig was awarded the prestigious 2004 North Dakota Coach of the Year, followed by recognition as the 2005 North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NDAPSSA) High School Male Coach of the Year. A Certificate of Merit for his achievements was issued to him by the VCSU Alumni Association in October of 2005.

When asked for a statement about the personal journey to three state tournaments, Craig instead touted the parents, early coaches, and the boys themselves. “The boys had parents who recognized and encouraged their skills. Committing to the game when they were young, these guys were exposed to coaches, like Ronny Cook and Geoff Blegen, who taught them well. The acronym of TEAM certainly fit this group of young men: Talent, Effort, Attitude, and Mental toughness to stick together as a group to play for three years in a row in state tournaments.”  

Kevin Bennefeld, the assistant coach at the time, is currently employed by Warwick Public School. He has accumulated 31 years of teaching and coaching. Kevin is husband to Kenia and father to adult children Evan, Sam and Gabe. His thoughts about the team include the fact that they played so well together. He says, “Each had a role that complimented the entire team.”

Seniors

Andy Anderson went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Jamestown. He lives in Burlingame, Calif., which is on the peninsula south of San Francisco. Working as a cancer biologist for Gilead Sciences for the past two years, Andy spent the previous five years at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis in the same type of role. He has worked a total of 10 years in oncology research, having also been employed at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., for three years. “I did stats for the 2003 and 2004 teams. In 2005, I didn’t play often, but I loved being on the team and having a front-row seat to the team’s amazing talents,” he reports.

Evan Bennefeld played basketball for a year at Bismarck State College where he received an Associate of Arts degree. Living in Moorhead, Evan works at Fargo Glass and Paint Co. in the finishing shop. He and his wife Aubrey will soon add to their family with a baby due to arrive in August. They are parents to 1-year-old Grace. Along with many others, Evan is astonished that 15 years have already passed since the big win.

Tyler Cook attended the University of Jamestown and played basketball there while he studied physical education. He is in his first year as the Student Engagement Specialist at NR-S School, but he is in his seventh year as the head coach of the Rockets boys’ basketball team, leading them to the state tournament in 2019. Of his own high school basketball career, Tyler fondly recalls, “We lost only a few games in three years, which made for a lot of fun memories. Capping it all off with the state championship was the perfect ending to the seniors’ Rocket careers.”

Michael Cudworth also attended and graduated from the University of Jamestown in 2009 with bachelor’s degrees in business management and management information systems. During his time at the U of J, Michael played football for the Jimmies. Michael and his wife Rachel live in Laurel, Miss., with their two young children Blake and Graham. Michael has been a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments since 2009. He proudly states, “NR-S is such a special place filled with great people from top to bottom. I can’t thank my coaches and teammates enough for all of the life lessons we learned together on the hardwood.”

Casey Weber and his brother Levi were the focus of a “Where Are They Now?” Oct. 21, 2019, agricultural article in the “New Rockford Transcript.” After graduating from high school, Casey earned a farm management degree from Bismarck State College. He currently operates the family farm with Levi. Casey and his wife Mackenzie are the parents of son Briggs and daughter Hattyn.

Matt Ystaas has a doctoral degree in physical therapy degree after studying for six years at the University of Mary. He has been a home health and nursing home physical therapist for nine years. Matt and his wife Melissa live in rural Sheyenne, and they are the parents of Aubree and Ethan. Matt has interesting memories of his high school basketball career: “I transferred my junior year from Sheyenne to New Rockford, so I experienced the 2004 and 2005 state tournaments. I remember the team being followed around frequently by cameramen Mark Goebel and Matt Larson, which sometimes drew strange looks from people. The other thing that always comes to mind is the annoying ‘Numa Numa’ song that was constantly played throughout the 2004-2005 season!”

Jacob Messner lives east of Sheyenne where he has been farming and ranching with his parents and two brothers since 2008. To help him further his knowledge and skills for this career, he earlier worked for two different farmers while he was living in Fargo and attending college at Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). “I remember the three trips to state well. The first two years were fun and kind of relaxed, and the third year was fun, too, but we knew we had to really get down to business because we had lost in the first round the previous two years. It was kind of like a ‘now or never’ feeling, and in the end, it definitely paid off!” Jacob relates.

After attending Valley City State University for a semester, Brandon Seiler realized that college wasn’t for him, so he focused on work. He now lives in West Fargo where he is employed as a pipe and sprinkler fitter for businesses and apartments. Brandon has been doing pipe fitting for five years. Brandon is a single dad of two children, Mia Ann and Niklaus. A significant fact about Brandon is that he became involved with the love of basketball when he was only nine-years-old at the time that Kobe Bryant was first drafted. Brandon’s love of the star player is so great that part of his email address reads “kobe.” Of course, Kobe’s sudden and tragic death hit him hard. On the lighter side, Brandon can boast, “I brought to the Rocket team great music in the locker room. It was almost like I was our DJ!”

Kyle Wetzel never formally attended college because of his employment in construction, the oilfield, farming and trucking. This work experience paid off for him as he currently runs a trucking company that hauls cattle and liquid fertilizer. Kyle and his wife Mariah live in Carrington, and he is the father of Karsyn. He lives his life according to the adage, “Success is never owned. It is rented, and the rent is due every day.” When his high school team’s wins culminated in the state championship, Kyle proclaims, “I was just along for the ride!”

Sophomores

Alan Cartwright did his post-secondary schooling at both Minnesota State Community and Technical College and Minnesota State University-Moorhead. His 5-year course study earned him an associate’s degree in mechanical drafting and design and a bachelor’s degree in operations management. Living in Fargo, Alan has been a manufacturing engineering site lead for 10 years. He and his wife Shannon are parents to Mathew, Easton and Holden. Alan admired the support New Rockford had for the Rocket teams. He remarks, “The crowd made even the away games seem like home games. The Rocket-ball videos are still great to watch and remember the events filmed on and off the court.”

Thad Collier currently resides in West Fargo and works as a Senior Solution Architect for Salesforce.com at Eide Bailly LLP. After graduating with a major degree in management information systems with a minor degree in computer science from NDSU, Thad was a software consultant for nine years before joining Eide Bailly four years ago. Thinking back, Thad comments, “Being part of the ’03-’05 junior varsity and varsity teams was absolutely amazing! Because of my positive high school experiences, I decided to play intramural league basketball for fun during my college career.”

Jim Guler lives in Fargo where he has worked for over five years as a civil engineer who specializes in water resources projects. Helping him to land this position was his bachelor’s degree from NDSU in construction engineering, followed by a master’s degree in civil engineering from Norwich University’s (Vermont) graduate program. Prior to his Fargo employment, Jim worked in Clare, Mich., for three-and-a-half years while his wife Carissa attended graduate school. Married since 2015, Jim and Carissa are the parents of daughter Mila and son Finn. As a young player on the state championship team, Jim says, “The team always had great comradery, and our competitiveness really drove us to do our best.”

Josh Langley received an agricultural economics degree from NDSU. He and his wife Trista live in New Rockford where Josh has been working at CenDak Cooperative as a sales agronomist for seven years. The couple has three children: Lincoln, Lennix, and Lucas. Josh’s take on the 2004-2005 basketball team? “They were a very athletic and impressively gifted basketball team,” he acknowledges.

Levi Weber attended both NDSU and Moorhead Tech upon graduating from NR-S. His college experiences earned him a degree in construction electricity. Currently, he is farming with his brother Casey. Levi and his wife Chelsey are the parents of daughter Bradleigh and son Brooks.

When Bruce Hirchert was working at the school part-time, Craig Demester asked if he would be interested in an additional job, so “Papa” Bruce did the official books for the team from 2003 to 2006. Bruce has worked for the City of New Rockford for 19 years, the last six years as the Public Works Superintendent. He and his wife Jodi have two grown children, Tyrell and Carissa. According to Bruce, the images that stand out in his mind are “the big hoorah when Michael’s shot went in and watching the crowd flood the floor.”

Carissa (Hirchert) Johnson attended Minnesota State University of Moorhead for four years to earn her degree in elementary education. Although Carissa lives in New Rockford with her husband Jon and daughters Arabelle and Ivy, she commutes each day to Fort Totten as she is a third-grade teacher at Tate Topa Tribal School. She has been teaching at that school for seven years. Carissa was a statistician for the Rockets for a year an a half. She explains, “I became a stats person during the ’04-’05 season because Thad Collier was moved to Varsity. I agreed to do stats because my dad was the bookkeeper. I kept doing stats so that I could watch my brother Tyrell play his senior year of basketball.”

Sarah (Helseth) Williams has attended three different universities for a variety of degrees: UND for a Bachelor of Science in Business Education; NDSU for another Bachelor of Science, but this time in Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) Education; and VCSU for a Master of Education in Teaching and Technology. Sarah and her husband Taylor live in West Fargo where she has been teaching FACS classes at West Fargo High School for nine years. Tess, Sarah and Taylor’s daughter, will turn two years old in April. Sarah took stats for Sheyenne-Minnewauken before Sheyenne reorganized with New Rockford. She enjoyed cheerleading, but since there wasn’t enough interest to have a squad, she volunteered as a statistician again.

Mallory Westby earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance at Minot State University. She lives in Bismarck and has worked at Gate City Bank since August of 2016 as the Assistant Vice President and Personal Loan Officer. Like Sarah, Mallory started as a boys’ basketball statistician when Sheyenne and Minnewaukan were a sports co-op. “I continued to do stats for more years once the reorganization occurred with New Rockford and Sheyenne,” she remembers.

After making appearances in 2003 and 2004, the 2005 team finally made it happen with one of the biggest wins in state tournament history on March 19, 2005. The Rockets were down by 16 points in the fourth quarter but came back to force double overtime. The Rockets earned the North Dakota Class B boys’ basketball title when they defeated the Bottineau Braves by a score of 67-65 for. As Assistant Coach Bennefeld puts it: “They were truly a team that cared about winning, not about individual stats.” This writer hopes readers have enjoyed a brief glimpse into the current lives of “The Team.”

So, how did you do on the trivia questions? Here are the answers.

(1) Andy Anderson

(2) 3

(3) 11

(4) Jim Guler

(5) Alan Cartwright and Sarah (Helseth) Williams

(6) Michael Cudworth

(7) 32

(8) A- Matt; B- Tyler; C- Evan; D- Casey; E- Michael